Bloodlands 2: A Post-Apocalyptic Harem by Daniel Pierce

Author:Daniel Pierce [Pierce, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-22T22:00:00+00:00

Whoever had left this place behind had sure cleared out in a hurry. It was still filled with tall steel vats, sluices, engines, and other pieces of machinery, the function of which I couldn’t begin to guess. Hell, I barely even knew how a granary worked. But a lot of this scrap looked in good enough condition to be salvageable—which meant we stood a good chance of being able to trade it for bullets and other supplies we needed.

Karina ran a pale hand over one of the metal vats. “We could use some stuff like this back at Silver Plains.” She strode around the dusty chamber, kicking the vats and motors as if she was shopping on a car lot. “We’ll definitely want to come back for these,” she said, tapping a tall metal cylinder. “And those, too.” She pointed at a stack of scrap metal in the corner.

I stroked my chin thoughtfully. “We’ll need a whole crew to carry all this.”

Karina made a soft humming sound. “Maybe we can rig up a travois for the horses, and load the heaviest stuff in the truck.”

I examined a nearby motor. “Do you know how to use this junk?”

Karina shrugged. “No. But I bet Chen does. Or somebody. Pretty soon we’re going to be able to grow our own wheat, and we’re going to need to grind it down into flour.”

I smiled, remembering Mickey’s excitement at the prospect of brewing his very own beer. “I guess this would beat grinding it by hand,” I said. At the same time, a sad thought crossed my mind: Karina will never get to taste the flour we grind. Her stomach would revolt at it. But she’s thinking of what’s best for the rest of us.

Her eyes met mine, and I felt we shared a little moment of understanding. “It’d be nice,” she said, “for everyone to be able to bake bread again.”

I stepped over next to her. “I remember you once told me how much you missed the taste and smell of your mom’s sugar cookies.”

Karina nodded, smiling in a melancholy way. “One of my favorite memories from the dead old world. I was starting to wonder if the new generation of kids would ever get to know how it feels to come running to the kitchen to taste fresh-baked cookies. Now maybe they will.”

I chuckled softly. “Sure beats the hell out of antelope jerky.”

Karina shot me a wry look, but I smiled at her, trying to show her I understood exactly what she meant. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I could actually imagine a future where kids might get to look forward to things like fresh-baked cookies, after-school sports, and birthday parties. A world where they might know more than just the day-to-day battle for survival. Until this past year, humanity had been hanging on by a thread—suspended a mere hairsbreadth above animal savagery, or worse. But when I strolled through the farms and gardens at Silver Plains,

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